First things first, I have a few notices to give out;
First, I need to correct something that I believed for years.
Chris mentioned a quote he’d seen on Instagram the other day that said “Don’t believe everything you think”.
…And that couldn’t be more apt at this point. I’ve been telling people that it was the head of the guideline committee that I’m on who invited me to the first and original meeting I attended on Zoom back in 2021, but it was actually a completely different person. So apologies to both parties.
How do I know this now? Well I had a bit of time on my hands yesterday and I was searching through my twitter messages for something, and discovered I’d been remembering it all wrong this whole time.
In my defence it doesn’t take much to confuse me, and to be honest you expected more of someone who doesn’t know what her own husband does for a job?! Come on! Really? Shame on you! Hahaha
So to clarify, a different man on twitter invited me to attend the Zoom initially, and then at that meeting Stavros invited me to join the in person meeting in Athens in 2022.
I am so incredibly grateful to have been invited at all, look where it’s lead me;
A position on the committee, a keen and passionate interest in medical guidelines and research, it was the gateway for me learning to attempt to speak Greek, countless trips to the mesmerising Acropolis - to be told the English like to steal stuff (like I didn’t know that already, have you been to the British museum? 😬🫣 please sign the petition online for their return), and I’ve met the most incredible, fascinating and welcoming people.
I feel so lucky and privileged to be in this group, and I’m very thankful to have ever been invited, all from a message on twitter.
I never feel intimidated or embarrassed to be in a room with people who are intellectually and academically far superior than me, quite the opposite actually, I feel honoured. I am always delighted to spend time with such incredible people, and you know that old saying “If you’re the smartest person in the room you’re in the wrong room”. Well I live that in the extreme with this group, and it’s an absolute pleasure. I find people who are incredibly clever, incredibly interesting.
I’ve always had a fascination with very very bright people, firstly I married one, some of attraction is probably down to wanting the best genes for offspring.
When I was a teenager I had a really good friend who was doing a PHD in mathematics at a uni in Rhode Island, and someone else I knew was so confused by our friendship, because intellectually we weren’t equals. I have dyscalculia, among a myriad of other educational issues, so I suppose it’s felt that in human society, birds of a feather should stick together, and not hang out with a borderline dunce (I have since learned about the issues I have, so I no longer consider myself as thick, just poorly educated in the appropriate manner. I wish I had known more about this when I was struggling with school and my teenage years, but at least I know now and can treat myself with the kindness and compassion I needed back then).
…And besides, maybe I can bring something else to the table that they don’t have, and that’s what I celebrate and thrive on.
The other thing I want to mention is that it was World Cancer Survivors day on 1st June.
For me personally, the handy thing about surviving cancer is this celebration is every single day. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel lucky, I celebrate every day.
I can never celebrate fully without mourning the losses of people who didn’t get the luck that I for some reason had.
This particular day makes those losses more poignant.
Luck being a huge factor, along with great care and medical attention, luck seems to be the deciding force.
I’m very aware that wasting a single second of my extra time would be shameful. It’s what motivates me to do anything.
I love life, all of it, from picnics in the garden to first class travel, and everything in between. From the boring days to the most exotic. Every day counts as a win.
I have to make the rest of my time count, because people far greater than me didn’t get the chance to.
Sending love to my fellow survivors, and even more love to the ones who are gone.
*I had a very near miss of a car accident the other day. Literally a hairs breath of closeness to utter disaster. And in that moment I felt safe and protected like I did following my surgery.
All I ended up with was a painful sprained thumb from having to turn the steering wheel so hard and aggressively to get out of the way - as a speeding car headed straight for me on the wrong side of the road. I don’t believe in god or anything like that, but my god that surely was like a higher power intervening, so who knows. The universe works in mysterious ways. I had to have a quiet sit down and a hot chocolate after that (although I was definitely going to have the hot chocolate anyway).
I told you ~ I’m a lucky person.
So on to what she wore and when she wore it, this is a style blog after all, my aim is to show the world that a stoma is no obstacle to dressing well, if you want to.
Well, it’s been a mixed bag and my clothes reflect that.
I knew Chris was heading into London for a business meeting, and lunch with a client, and I thought well as he was in town anyway I’d go up too, the plan I hatched was to do a bit of shopping, collect my watch that was ready waiting for me, and meet him for dinner.
Well, two out of 3 ain’t bad for me! I forgot to pick my watch up which was a bit inconvenient. I did enjoy the shopping part though.
I popped into Gap on Oxford Street and saw they had the Gap x Doen collaboration pieces in. I was so happy!
I love Doen but I can’t really justify spending that sort of money, I mean I could, but it would be a piss take.
But the Gap x Doen collab…well, consider me justified! Hahaha
Top from TK Maxx, Jeans from M&S, Shoes from Chanel, Jacket from Burberry (about 100 years ago, god knows how much it would cost today. It’s a tad snug but still wearable so I’m going to).
Who doesn’t love a little cheeky night out in town.
Clearly Chris did because although he’d been out for a three course business lunch, he still managed a pizza for dinner too. I’m in no position to food shame anyone, I was just impressed by his ability. :)
I tried on most of the collection in Gap, and for the most part it looked good. But I chose the bits I felt I was likely to get the most wear from.
I’m a shopaholic, but one with a sense of self control - even if it’s just a smidge.
I wanted it all!!
I decided on this dress because it fit nicely, it felt nice on and is a really good staple summer dress.
Dresses from Doen are gorgeous, but very spenny.
Happy with my purchases, I met up with Chris once he’d finished work for the day, I then bought some lotions and potions in Harrods, had dinner and came home.
I woke up on the Saturday and felt weird. I couldn’t put my finger on it, I just felt odd. We pottered around, did some gardening, went out for a drive and had lunch out, all the while feeling a bit bleh.
Top from TK Maxx, Jeans from M&S, Shoes from Tods.
Then Sunday came and I understood what was happening, I woke up with a really sore throat, something nasty was brewing.
But as we’d planned a really lovely day out we just got on with it.
We took my mum and dad down to see Milly, Sam and Zak’s new house in the countryside.
Thankfully I had bought a really cute cosy co-ord from a boutique in Halstead a few days before. It was absolutely perfect. I wanted to be cosy and comfortable and this outfit was just spot on for it.
Co-ord from Anouk in Halstead, Shoes from Hermes, Bag from Goyard.
I didn’t feel too bad in the morning, but by the evening I felt proper rough.
I had to just surrender to this rotten virus, but I was livid about catching it.
But I have to be happy that it’s the first virus I’ve had in 17 months of healthy eating. So improving gut bacteria has helped me fend off a lot. Neither Chris nor I went down with that rotten thing people are dropping like flies with over Christmas.
I always say I catch everything that’s going round, but that’s not technically true seeing as I have never knowingly had Covid! I know, right!! That’s pretty impressive, no?
I did loads of testing throughout the covid years, and I even paid for a blood test at one point to see if I’d had it symptom free, but I hadn’t. I’ve no idea how I avoided it, it’s not like I sat at home hiding once we could all go back out to play.
Once we got the green light we were off!! I’ve flown more in the last 5 years than the preceding 47!
Surprising still was the fact that when Chris caught Covid back in the day, he felt compelled to be as close to me as humanly possible, spurred on by the dawning realisation of his own mortality apparently. hahahaha.
Anyway, this particular virus last week was blessedly short lived. I felt rough Monday and Tuesday, then felt somewhat better by Wednesday night, and I was back in London on Thursday to pick up the watch that I should’ve picked up the week before.
So although I did go down with something, I still fared better than I expected.
It’s only when your feel ill you think about how you have been feeling in general, and I realised that I have felt fantastic for the last 17 months of no UPFs, home cooked food, with a special focus on fibre and protein in equal measure and importance.
I can almost promise you no Brit is short on protein, the food and fitness industry is obsessed with it right now, but most people aren’t eating enough fibre. The recommended dose being 30grams a day.
No matter what weight loss diet you’ve decided on, please remember fibre can save your life.
People love fasting weight loss diets at the moment, it’s incredibly popular, but I worry people won’t get 30 grams of fibre in.
As much as I love my post bowel cancer life now, I wouldn’t recommend fast tracking to it. Did not enjoy, would not recommend. 0/10.
Very handily the stuff that boosts the good gut bacteria is full of nutrients and fibre, which is probably why I’ve avoided so many bugs for so long. I’ve purposefully worked on building my bacteria, well, the good ones.
So by Thursday I felt perky enough to head back into London to pick up my watch.
Chris buys me beautiful things, I’m really lucky that I found him, I was so dejected and wary of dating by the time I met Chris (at the very jaded grand old age of 20!!).
I had been dating a series of psychopaths/sociopaths for years (or so it felt at the time), so when I met Chris he seemed too good to be true, but as it turned out, he is the most incredible human being I have ever met, bar none.
And on top of building my confidence and self esteem for the last 32 years, he treats me like a queen, and buys me lots of lovely things, and as much as I have loved my confidence being raised ~ I bloody love stuff too!
Anyway, for my 45th birthday, yes, the big four ~ five (I celebrate all birthdays with equal gusto), he bought me a beautiful watch.
I noticed a few weeks back that I don’t wear it as much as I probably should, so I had an idea to change the strap, so it’d remind me to wear it with some other green jewellery I have.
I ordered it 7 weeks ago and I picked it up last week, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
Top from H&M, Trousers from Ralph Lauren, Shoes from Hermes.
Jacket from M&S.
The strap is such a great match for my green stuff. I would say I’ve got a great eye for design and detail, but they only had two other colour options for the green, one was lime and one was blue green, so I ordered the third option and closest one.
While I was in the store I discovered they had their 10% discount day for clubcard holders…and you don’t have to tell me twice. So I headed to the 4th floor for the clothes I really love (and can afford).
I love the company Self Portrait, but there is something wrong with either my body shape, or their design and the clothes don’t often fit me properly, and for the money, they need to fit perfectly in my opinion.
I tried on this skirt, and I absolutely loved it, unfortunately for me the matching jacket didn’t suit me at all, as it made me look like a linebacker. But I loved the skirt so much that I felt I could find something else to wear with it. In fact my little H&M T shirt looked quite cute with it.
I snapped it up, will I wear it? I hope so. It feels so soft it’s like wearing pyjamas.
I took myself off for lunch at the same restaurant that I had pasta at the week before, I had the same dish I have every time, but this time it turned my stomach, no idea why. So that’s done with now. 🤷🏼♀️
Friday I had a lovely day planned, I had mentioned to my friend about how much I used to love Greggs vegan sausage rolls, and she said she’d never had the vegan one before.
So as we have a shared love of Costa hot chocolates anyway, I suggested that I’d drive to her house, and we’d walk into the local town for a vegan sausage roll and a hot chocolate, so that’s what we did.
We had so much fun, a lovely walk in the glorious sunshine, a mooch round some clothes shops and then off to Greggs to sample their delicacies. :)
Top and trousers from Ralph Lauren, Shoes from Gucci
I haven’t had a Greggs in a while as it doesn’t fit in with our no UPFs and healthy eating. But a little of what you fancy does you good. Life is about balance, and joy.
Elle loved them too, so we’ll probably go again at some point.
I enjoy a walk by myself, but it’s so much better when you have good company. 🩷
I received a letter Friday saying I was due a smear test, I didn’t think much of it, and I just rang to book it in, and surprisingly they gave me an appointment for the next day.
So in we head to the NHS hub in Braintree, Chris came too to give moral support…and I’d tempted him with the promise of pie and mash.
Anyway, I got to the appointment and the PA said she’d looked at my records and I’d only had a smear last July, and I didn’t need to have another one so soon, so that was fantastic! It’s not like I particularly wanted one, I just got the letter and booked it in.
I’d got myself prepped for no reason, but I went along to the pie and mash shop to watch Chris enjoy it, I was there for moral support! :)
Dress from Primark.
There was a stall in the food market selling London Cheesecakes, which are a particular favourite of mine. And tragically they were a victim of the pandemic, because they used to sell them in Greggs until then, then they greatly reduced down what they were selling, and never brought them back.
Greggs probably saw a slump in profits, mainly because I stopped going as much once they stopped them.
…Now, don’t judge but my regular old order used to be;
2 vegan sausage rolls,
1 London Cheesecake
and a Belgium bun…
…I said don’t judge!! You do you! 😂
I stocked up at the market on Saturday (for research purposes only of course, just to see what they were like. They are a delight. Some managed to make it into my freezer, some made it into my belly).
We then had a very chilled afternoon in the garden.
Some gardening, some general pottering, Chris rigged up a watering system, and I couldn’t love him more for it!!
I hate watering plants, I can’t bear the water splashing on me, and if it dares trickle up my arms when doing hanging baskets I’m ready to throw up.
But now all I have to do is turn the tap on for 5 minutes and the garden is watered. It’s heaven. It’s made a huge difference to how I feel about being in the garden.
Then the old smoothy brought out the bottle of 0.0 bubbles Erin bought me for my birthday.
Everything is more vibrant sober I have found.
Sunday was spent at our local polo club, which sounds so fancy and boujee, but it’s actually not at all.
We love polo, we’re not from horsey backgrounds, we’re not from fancy people. But we got into watching the sport via client entertaining, and then found this club in Bishop Stortford.
The one thing we’ve learned is polo looks elitist from the outside, but it’s so calm and welcoming from inside .
There’s never been any snobby sorts, just really lovely passionate players, happy that others like it enough to come and watch a match or three.
You don’t have to get dolled up at all, but I wanted to because…well, I just wanted to. Why not?
The guts involved in playing the sport is immense, playing hockey would be challenging enough, but add in a living creature with it’s own personality and mind, and my god it’s bold!
Top from Ralph Lauren, Trousers from M&S, Shoes from Louis Vuitton, Bag from Goyard.
I am a very happy spectator, they do run polo lessons at Silver Leys, but I think my talents lie elsewhere.
I am far too big a coward to take part - actually, that’s pretty much my mantra for any kind of sport. :)
I’ll stick to roast dinners at the club house, and watching from afar.
To add balance for eating merrily and plentifully it was back to fruit, yogurt and yoga on Monday morning, and it was my first yoga on the grass this year!
Yoga feels absolutely amazing on grass, in the fresh air and out in the sunshine.
And I love Camilla’s classes. For the laying down part I used the mat, and for the rest I stood on the grass. I feel so invigorated by it. I would recommend outdoors yoga.
Am I any good at yoga? Nope!! But why would I have to be any good at it? I enjoy it, I move and stretch as much as I can, but I’m not turning pro any time soon, so for me ~ adequate is good enough. (A tag line that won’t win any awards in this crazy competitive world, but perfectly acceptable to live by) 🤍
If you want a quick way to add in more fibre try…
Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries are my daily staples.
And gut bacteria boosters…
Keep well, live well, love every second…in a hundred years no one will know any of our names, not a single one, so live today like it’s the only chance you have at it…because it actually is. Xx 😘
🫶🏼